What can F1 fans expect in 2022?
What can F1 fans expect in 2022?
By Felix Holland
At the end of the longest season in F1 history, drivers and teams deserve a well-earned break over the festive period - but they won’t be able to relax for long.
The 2022 campaign starts on March 20 in Bahrain and pre-season testing begins a month before, so teams need to get their skates on if they’re to be ready.
Add in a whole new batch of technical regulations – the biggest rule changes since 2014 – and it’s certainly not going to be a quiet winter.
Everyone might want to see another Mercedes v Red Bull showdown, especially after what happened in Abu Dhabi, but is that going to happen?
Here’s what we can expect in 2022…
A MIXED GRID
With such significant rule changes, F1 is going to look totally different next season.
After eight years of slight evolution, it's back to the drawing board in 2022. All 10 teams are starting from scratch and that will lead to some unpredictable results up and down the grid.
Mercedes and Red Bull, the two quickest cars in 2021, have the most to lose, while the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin have the most to gain. But will we see a totally different order in 2022? History suggests we will.
In 2014, the last time we saw changes as drastic as these, Mercedes transformed from a forgettable mid-table outfit to an unstoppable and dominant force. In contrast, Lotus went from challenging for race wins to propping up the order.
Lewis Hamilton fans needn’t worry yet though. The current engines are locked in place until 2026 and Mercedes undoubtedly have the best, while they decided to plough resources into their 2022 car instead of 2021’s.
They knew that could cost them the 2021 title and, in the driver’s standings, ultimately it did - albeit barely. But they have taken a long-term view and intend to be strong again.
Red Bull will hardly disappear but a Verstappen v Hamilton sequel is far from assured. Ferrari are confident they can return to race-winning form, Aston Martin too and even 2021’s whipping boys Haas expect to score regular points next season.
Verstappen and Hamilton might be F1’s two premier drivers but if the likes of Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris or even Sebastian Vettel get a car capable of winning, then they could well become the story.
All it takes is for one team to have a lightbulb-worthy idea - just as Brawn did in 2009 when Jenson Button went on to win the title - and anyone could shoot to the front. Change could well be in the air.
THE BATTLE OF THE BRITS
If Toto Wolff is to be believed, Lewis Hamilton may not even be an F1 driver next season.
The Brit has every right to be sore after the way he was denied a record eighth world title but time is a great healer and he’ll also know that revenge is a dish best served cold.
Expect him to be back in 2022 and again at the very top of his game as he bids to take sole ownership of the last major F1 record he doesn’t have and move beyond Michael Schumacher’s seven world titles.
However, he will no longer have Valtteri Bottas alongside him. The reliable and loyal Finn, who has been the perfect teammate for five years, has been booted out and replaced by George Russell.
The 23-year-old is Mercedes’ answer to Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, a protégé they hope can deliver wins and championships for years.
Bottas was hardly happy to play second fiddle to Hamilton but he was clearly inferior and so had little choice. But in his three years at Williams, Russell has shown limitless potential and has the confidence to match.
Hamilton will start with the upper hand but expect Russell to push him hard. He is, after all, the future of Mercedes.
MORE OVERTAKING
There are few things more frustrating in life than being stuck behind a slow driver on a windy road, running late and unable to get past.
Imagine it in a F1 car, where you don’t even have the radio to listen to...
While the introduction of the DRS system has helped overtaking, following a slower car too often wrecks a drivers’ race. The ‘dirty air’ – a pocket of turbulent air that flows off the car in front – is almost impossible to overcome and it can overheat race tyres to boot.
The current cars lose 35% of their downforce when 20 metres behind a rival, enough to neutralise any speed advantage. But in 2022 that is set to change, with an aerodynamic phenomenon known as ‘ground effect’ reducing that figure to just 4%.
What does that mean? Well, in theory, it should be much, much, much easier for one car to follow another. That will mean overtaking is far easier and will see plenty more of it, creating more on-track action and thus more drama.
Everyone’s a winner.
Image credit: Getty Images